Broken
by Comet Punch
Summary: Set in an AU where the Avengers don't stop the alien forces from invading Earth. The Avengers are broken. There's no one to fix them, and the aliens have succeeded. One-shot


Tony Stark was a futurist. He wanted to plan for everything and anything that could happen. All possibilities and probabilities must be taken into account and assessed. He prepared for possible invasions from rogue Kree or Skrull, remaining HYDRA agents or anything out of the ordinary. But what he didn't prepare for-what really mattered-destroyed him.

He let his team, the Avengers, fall apart. He didn't want to accuse anyone of being a green shapeshifting alien, but really, how can you blame him? Madame Viper had a perfect doppelgänger and no one, not even Baron von Strucker knew. Anyone of his team could of been compromised. It was fortunate that he was still on their good sides after the split. He regretted leaving, yes, but he needed time to cool down.

He learned firsthand that a leader has to be cool and collected. Tony Stark was not calm and collected. He was irrational and illogical. He was a wild card. You never knew what he would do next.

On the other hand, Steve Rogers was the perfect leader. He was familiar with the military and leadership. He could lead the whole population to their doom; he was that persuasive. Something about him enabled him to make people agree with him, trust him.

Stark had nothing like that. He has many enemies, most of them business rivals. How could a leader lead if he can't keep himself under the radar?

'Next time, I won't be the leader. I'm not capable of handling that responsibility. In reality, I'm just going to be dead weight. A distraction.'

* * *

The lively Janet van Dyne was in her words, a 'happy camper'. Now, she wasn't. Her best friends all left the team; Tony, T'Challa and Carol. Now all that's left is the Hulk, Steve and Clint. The mighty Avengers-reduced to a measly four. If there was another invasion, they'd have a fiesta when they had no opposition, because in reality, they only have a broken team. The Hulk's been off ever since the red Hulk incident, Steve's obviously strained with keeping them together, and Clint's always unfocused. Believe it or not, they've all been hit hard.

It didn't make sense to her. Why would Tony just accuse Clint of being a Skrull? What evidence did he have? It was was like he was a dying animal. He was grasping at everything to ensure that his team wasn't being taken over. Since this realization, Janet understood what made Tony go bonkers. He was as imperfect as they all were. He had his flaws beneath his warm brown eyes and flirtatious smile.

He was insecure about what others thought of his actions an how those actions affected his future. He wanted to he perfect, but he never realized that he could not. Vision couldn't even be the perfect robot. Stark needed to wake up and smell that sunshine, 'cause if this keeps on, the world's going down with them.

'Just keep smiling, Jan. Keep up your disguise. That way, we'll all get the impression of being secure. It's a small reconciliation for the rest of our problems.'

* * *

Clint was never one to believe in fate or the future. He believed in the present, and what was happening now. He was a very down-to-earth man. However, there were some things his philosophy could not explain. Why had the Skrull Madame Viper decide to keep him alive? If she hadn't, he would've been in a better situation than his current predicament.

The once mighty crime fighting, foe bashing Avengers were dead. There were no avenging of things their enemies had done anymore. All that was keeping them alive was Steve Rogers.

Steve was an intriguing man. He believed that humans should connect to each other more intimately and understand each other. He believed in the real America, not the technology-driven world he lives in presently. Steve knew that things had to be done efficiently and swiftly.

Clint admired that trait of Steve's. He himself was reckless and driven by anger. Anger caused by the Black Widow. Betrayal was common for him. He was the rogue archer, the one person who could screw everything up.

'I'm just an archer. I'm not some superhero. The weak link in the chain-that's me.'

* * *

There were many things Steve Rogers knew. He knew how to calculate the trajectory f his shield at which to throw it and how to make a battle plan. However, in this new world where androids ran rampant and aliens were considered everyday problems, he didn't know a lot. At times, he relied on Tony's knowledge about the world he's in. He knew what to expect and how to deal with it.

Without him, the Avengers were bound to fail. He was the glue to keep them together. Steve was just inspiration for them. He kept them invigorated with encouragement and compliments.

He was a perfect super soldier, a weapon of war, but he was not perfect. He was beyond perfect. He had anger from Bucky's death hidden from view. He refused to let it go, for if he did, he was afraid that he would lose himself. His flaw, his fatal flaw, was his anger. If he keeps it hidden and away from the world, who could help him? Everyday, he fights with the energy of this anger and relies on it to keep him going.

He doesn't realize that it would be his downfall. The very source of energy he relied in would one day betray him.

* * *

"This team is falling apart. We need to do something!" Clint slammed his fist on the table. A vein popped out of his head to emphasize his anger.

Janet flinched. "What can we do?" She spoke, "We don't trust one another. It's just like Panther said, we don't really know each other."

"So we're just going to give up? The Janet I knew would never-"

"Never what? The Janet you knew is long gone, Steve. I've changed, we've all changed. I'm not the happy little ball of sunshine I used to be. We lost the Hulk today and we're just going to fall apart. So don't sugarcoat it, sweetheart. The Avengers are done." She shrank off and flew away.

Steve groaned. "Do you agree with her Clint?"

He averted his gaze. "He has a point. But we have a job to do. We have to defend the world, because who else could?"

Steve smiled. "I'm glad to know you're still there Barton."

* * *

The Avengers were weakened. They fell to the galactic forces that sought to destroy them. The remaining ex-team members had no wish to continue fighting. The forces took over the Earth, and there was no one to stop it.

_As it is written._


End file.
